On Saturday, December 14, China’s oil giant CNOOC announced that its subsidiary has sold its American subsidiary and upstream oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico to the British chemical group INEOS.
CNOOC said in a statement that its wholly-owned subsidiary CNOOC International Ltd. signed a stock purchase agreement with a subsidiary of INEOS.
The transaction involves CNOOC’s upstream oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico, primarily including non-operating interests in projects like the Appomattox and Stampede oil fields.
Chairman of CNOOC International, Liu Yongjie, stated that the deal is aimed at optimizing their global asset portfolio.
However, according to a previous report by Reuters, CNOOC is selling its assets in the UK, Canada, and the US amid concerns of sanctions from Western countries due to their support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many of the country’s overseas assets have been frozen or confiscated by Western countries. Currently, the US and other Western countries are expanding sanctions against Russia.
Since 2022, CNOOC has been seeking potential buyers for its interests in US oil and gas fields.